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Topic: Timing an IIPA batch (Read 1704 times)

I'm planning on brewing my first IIPA in the next couple of months. I want to have it ready in mid-November, ideally at peak flavor/aroma. My available brew days are mid-August, mid-September or I can request a day off sometime in the last 2 weeks of September (yes, I will take a day off to brew this beer - my obsession has finally reached that level). I don't have an exact recipe nailed down yet, but I'm aiming for around ~1.085 OG, probably using WLP001 or 007. Grain bill will probably be based on Tasty McDole's Pliny clone with a massive fruit-bomb hop selection/schedule (Citra, plus several NZ hops and possibly some Galaxy or Cascade).

My thought is that mid-September is probably the way to go. That gives me 2 weeks for fermentation, about 2 weeks for my dry-hopping regime, then about a month to bottle condition. Does that sound right? I haven't brewed anything this big yet, so I'm not sure how long to count on for bottle conditioning. Should I plan on pitching a half-pack of US-05 at bottling as a safety net to be sure it carbs in time, or will I be fine if I give it a month to carb up?

With an IIPA (or any hoppy ale, really) fresher is better. It should reach FG in less than a week, so allowing two weeks for dry-hopping and two for carbonation, you're looking at 5 weeks total time. I'd brew it in early October.

With an IIPA (or any hoppy ale, really) fresher is better. It should reach FG in less than a week, so allowing two weeks for dry-hopping and two for carbonation, you're looking at 5 weeks total time. I'd brew it in early October.

I agree with this. The IIPA that I put in the NHC was definitely past its prime being in the bottle for 6 weeks. The score was 29 and it would have done much better if it was tasted a month earlier when the hops were really popping.